"Then I'll go look, wait for me!" Stellar said as she ran off again.
"Uff, she finally left" Lala said with satisfaction as she watched her disappear into the distance.
...
"What are you doing here again?!" Lala complained hours later when she saw Stellar standing in front of her again.
"Miss Lala, I couldn't find anyone on this boring planet, you must keep your promise and come with me" Stellar complained dramatically.
"I don't want to!"
"But you promised!"
"I never promised that!"
"Uff, I thought the problem had been solved, but it looks like it will last a little longer" Mikan complained as she watched the spectacle.
They were arguing in front of the television, blocking the program she was watching, so she at least had to entertain herself by watching their fight.
"Shouldn't you do something, Rito?" she asked, looking at her brother, who wanted to intervene but didn't know what to say.
"Well... yes? Although I'm not sure what to do.
It doesn't look like she'll leave without anything, but I can't just hand someone over for her to take away. No one would agree to that."
"So we just wait for Lala to deal with this?" Mikan asked doubtfully.
"No" Rito said. Just because he didn't know what to do didn't mean he wouldn't try.
"Um... Miss Stellar, I think forcing a person to go with you is too much."
"It's not by force, and it's not just any person. Look, what a fantastic idea! A show about a love triangle with the princess of Deviluke. Wouldn't that be amazing?" Stellar said while her eyes shone as she imagined a future full of money and success.
"Am I included in that? But I never agreed to anything," Rito said in surprise.
"Me neither!" Lala added.
"And weren't you saying I didn't have star material? Your show won't succeed," Rito tried to excuse himself at the cost of his own self esteem.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. What matters is your title as the princess's fiancé. As long as you don't win in the end, no one will complain" Stellar explained, detailing the script she had already imagined.
"I don't even win?" Rito complained before quickly shaking his head. "No, that's not the problem. Miss Stellar, we already made our decision. If you don't leave, we'll throw you out by force" Rito said firmly, fed up with the woman.
"What? Miss Lala, are you going to let him talk to your biggest fan like that?"
"Get out!" Lala said while pointing a weapon shaped like a laser gun at her.
"Hiiiii! I'm sorry, I'll leave immediately."
Despite trusting her power and connections to be more persistent than allowed with her "future stars", Stellar didn't trust herself to be more influential than the princess of the galaxy, so she gave up.
She immediately left, this time disappearing from the place without even moving across the ground, using some kind of artifact.
"She finally left" Lala said, collapsing tiredly onto the sofa.
"Not bad, Rito. You just had to get serious and it was solved" Mikan praised, somewhat impressed.
"No... it was Lala who made her leave."
"No, if Rito hadn't gotten serious, I wouldn't have either" Lala said while lying face down on the sofa.
"I'm bad at understanding others, so if Rito hadn't said it like that I probably wouldn't have used force to throw her out, thinking it would be rude."
While she spoke, Mikan approached and handed her a glass of water.
"I thought you were very good at reading others? Here, you were shouting a lot, don't hurt your throat."
Lala sat up and took a sip before answering.
"No. I can easily tell when it's about me, but if it's not, I have no idea what other people's intentions are. I always end up bringing trouble to the people around me.
Just like now. If I had known it bothered you that much, I would have thrown her out from the beginning. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I also need to learn when I should act instead of just hesitating" Rito said.
"But Rito... is kind. Even if he hesitates, he does it because he considers other people's feelings, and in the end he ends up doing the right thing.
I think that's better than me, who has no idea about other people's feelings when I act."
"Maybe we should both be a little more like the other" Rito sighed.
"Yes... maybe" Lala nodded.
Mikan observed the atmosphere and wisely decided to leave, letting them talk alone.
"Actually, Lala, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?" Lala asked, noticing Rito's seriousness.
---
The next morning.
[Hello, I am Mona, your new virtual assistant. It is a pleasure to meet you, master.]
In front of Yuuji stood a small chibi character shaped like a woman, with pink hair and short twin tails.
Curious, Yuuji tried to touch her, but his hand passed completely through her.
"Are you really an AI?"
[What else could I be, master? I am an AI created by Miss Lala, based on a fusion of the appearance of her sisters. My duty is to serve you in any way I can.]
"Alright, then I'll give you access to the Chaos network and let you familiarize yourself with the company."
[I have already done so.]
"Already? But I just gave you access."
[As an AI created with technology from across the galaxy, Earth's systems are easy to bypass.
And knowing my purpose, I immediately infiltrated the networks of the company under your command and I am aware of everything.]
"Really? Then what do I need to do to improve the company?"
[First of all you need to hire employees. The current employee count of Chaos Studios is two people. Although the efficiency of master and Miss Ruri is incredible, managing to keep it afloat, having more people will improve efficiency much more.]
"But..."
[However, since master does not seem to consider it too necessary for the moment, I recommend hiring security first.
With at least one ability user from the supernatural world as security, the reputation and safety of the company will increase greatly, allowing it to last longer without the need to hire more people.]
Yuuji thought about it for a moment and agreed.
"I hadn't thought about it, but if a supernatural world truly exists in this world then they most likely have great influence over mundane affairs. For those who know about the supernatural world but have no access to it, showing that we are part of it will discourage many from causing trouble."
[Should I search for candidates then?]
"No, I'll take care of that myself later. For now introduce yourself to Ruri and help her," Yuuji said. "I have things to do today."
[Understood.]
The small pink haired doll entered Yuuji's computer screen, where he had connected the USB Lala gave him, and disappeared after showing an animation of herself entering a digital portal.
"Then with that ready, let's take care of this" Yuuji said while looking at his own system.
There, among the list of several abilities, was Dimensional Walker, his only legendary ability.
Just by thinking about it, a tab with its information opened where, right at the end, there was a moving countdown.
[00:00:23:57]
"It's already been almost a month, huh..." Yuuji murmured. "Then let's go find Lala."
With that goal, Yuuji left his room, went down the stairs, and walked out the door toward the house of his neighbors who coincidentally were also the main couple.
Compared to the apartment he stayed in when he arrived in this world or the mansion where he lived with his parents, this house was much smaller and more modest.
Even so, it was still one of the best houses in the neighborhood, considering it was a family house being used by a single person.
One of the biggest differences was the yard. While in his old house it took several minutes to reach the outside, passing a fountain and other decorations along the way, here it only took him about twenty seconds to leave completely.
And only five seconds to reach his neighbors' house and knock on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Shortly after, the door opened and a preteen girl with brown hair greeted him.
"Yuuji, what are you doing here? Ah... good morning" Mikan asked, then greeted him somewhat embarrassed after remembering her basic manners.
"Good morning" Yuuji replied.
"Don't worry, you don't have to be so formal with me. I had something to do with Lala. Didn't she tell you?"
"Lala... is going through something, so she's not very talkative" Mikan said while lowering her head.
"Is she okay?" Yuuji asked worriedly.
'What happened? Yesterday's plot shouldn't have ended quickly without repercussions.'
[Why are you asking me? I have no idea.]
"She's fine, she just... had a small argument with Rito" Mikan replied evasively.
"Do you think you could...?"
"I'll call her" Mikan nodded before going to get her.
"...Yuuji, do you need something?"
After a while, the door opened again and Lala came out.
Her complexion was pale and her eyes were red, probably from crying.
Her cheerful personality was nowhere to be seen, making her look like nothing more than a fragile and hurt young girl.
"Lala!? What happened?"
"I'm fine... I just watched a sad movie. A very sad one" Lala replied.
Noticing that she didn't want to talk about what had happened, Yuuji decided not to interfere, assuming it had nothing to do with him.
In the original story Rito and Lala used to argue from time to time anyway, but they always returned to normal, so this time should be the same... right?
"I think this isn't the best moment, but... do you remember what we talked about before about the other world?"
"Another world?" Lala blinked in confusion until the memory blossomed in her mind. "A month has already passed. Do you want me to help you with that again?"
"Yes, but... it's not necessary for you to come if you don't wan..."
"It's fine, I want to go. Let's go to another world" Lala interrupted with a forced smile.
______________________________________
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)
{Author's Note: These last three chapters really tested everything I understand about Rito as a character, which is difficult because I watched To Love-Ru about five years ago.
So if it turns out I'm wrong, you can treat this as an AU, since I prefer to keep thinking about Rito this way.
To me, Rito is the kind of kind-hearted person who always thinks about other people's feelings, even though he isn't very good at understanding them.
When it comes to acting or making decisions, he tends to hesitate a lot, which is why he considers himself a coward. However, while he may be shy and somewhat cowardly when it comes to girls, when it comes to actually acting or making decisions he doesn't hesitate out of cowardice. Instead, he thinks about everyone's feelings so much that he ends up doing nothing out of fear that someone might get hurt.
Because of this, Rito often only acts when someone else gives him the answer or when he's under pressure and has no choice but to act.
However, one thing is certain: even if it takes him time to act, when he finally does, he usually chooses the option that is best for everyone, even at his own expense. People can say whatever they want about Rito, but if there's one thing he truly is, it's kind, perhaps too kind for his own good. After all, there's a reason he spent two whole seasons following the harem plan without ever making a decision, since it involves the feelings of so many people.}